Posted on 04/29/2002 6:10:32 PM PDT by gcruse
By Carl J. Cieslikowski
We are in a seemingly insoluble budgetary crisis in California. A significant part of this crisis results from the prosecution of the "War on Drugs." One of every six state employees is now working in the Department of Corrections. California has 185,750 state employees, and 30,800 work for Corrections. In 1990, the total number of full-time criminal justice personnel in the entire state of California was 146,157.
California is home to 25 prisons and 40 conservation camps. In the past 12 years we have constructed 18 new prisons with five additional prisons planned for construction. In our misguided effort of constructing 18 new prisons, we have taken money from libraries, schools, sports, prevention and music programs. We simply cannot have it both ways. Taxpayers should be outraged at the average expenditure of $22,000 a year to house an inmate, while we wonder why basic children's services are being gutted.
A number of factors contributed to the building of the largest prison system in the United States. Politicians believed they could further their political careers by being "tough" on crime. So, a tidal wave of punitive bills, signed by former Governor Deukmejian, burdened California with the highest incarceration rate in the world! Now, we are encumbered with huge bureaucracies and solidly entrenched industries (DEI) who have built their own political machine to maintain their vested interests at our expense. The proof of the atrocious political result is best demonstrated in the outrageous growth in prison population. In 1980 there were 23,726 inmates in prison. By 1992, prison population skyrocketed to 102,554.
In 1990 there were 32,300 new law violators sent to state prison. Of this number, 21% were for violent crimes, 34.5% were for property crimes, 31.9% for drug law violations, and all others were 12.6%. Offenders who crave expensive drugs indulge in crimes of violence and property to sustain their habits. It is estimated that 75% of the state's offenders are serving time for drug or drug related crimes. There is even a highly structured and immensely profitable drug trade within prisons. This industry not only perpetuates the existing user's dependencies, but also introduces new converts to drugs and sabotages the efforts of individuals who are making an honest attempt at remaining free from illicit drugs. As long as the profit in illegal drugs remains obscenely high, free enterprise will prevail and drug dealers will continue to pollute every corner of our society.
There is hope we can avoid financial destruction through a realistic Drug Reform Policy which is in contrast to an inflexible strategy that is dragging our state into bankruptcy. We are feeding the voracious appetite of both private and public industries who have selfish interests in increasing the present bloated bureaucracy and status quo, regardless of the dire consequences to our economy. We simply cannot depend on private and public industries to provide us with a realistic assessment of the value of their contribution to solving the drug problem.
The appointment of more judges to fill newly constructed courtrooms is big business. The building of new prisons is big business. The feeding, clothing and maintaining of inmates is bug business. The exploding number of new employees hired by the Department of Corrections is big business. These factors and more contribute to an already large armada of private and public agencies whose primary goal include keeping drugs illegal to preserve profits, ensure job security and promotional opportunities. Sadly, all this human effort is being wasted on unproductive expenditures of public funds while our basic social institutions are being devastated through financial starvation. We have had ample opportunity to test the present methods of arrest, prosecution,, incarceration and treatment. These practices have clearly failed, compromised our liberties, placed our police officers in dangerous situations, and created financial chaos.
Although politically unpopular to espouse, a viable solution to the prison nightmare is the revision of our failed drug policies. As a cornerstone of an effective policy - we must emphasis drug maintenance for those already addicted because mandatory drug treatment does not work. We must face reality and reject the hollow arguments of those individuals whose jobs or profits depend on mandatory "drug rehabilitation programs." Less than 10% of mandatory treatment works. We must stress the cost effectiveness and the importance of education, jobs, prevention, hope, encouragement and the value of achievement. Contrast that with bearing the custodial expenses of the human tragedy stemming from the lack of an investment in our people and their future. We must admit the criminal model for drug offenders was a noble experiment which has failed, not because our goals are flawed, but because the policy is flawed. We must adopt a policy emphasising decriminalization and regulation, yet admit any policy change is fraught with difficulty. We must recognize our country has a health crisis and adopt a model which is realistic, cost-effective and humane.
The reality of actual drug use in our country is obscured by an exclusive emphasis upon "illicit" drugs which deludes us about the damage done by "legal" drugs. The biggest drug dealers in this country are not publicly recognized because the profits from the alcohol and tobacco industries are used for campaign contributions and deceptive advertising messages which hide their real effect on our population. During Prohibition, when we tried to legislate alcohol intake behavior, we instead created organizations which benefit from huge profits. Today, we have created a similar situation wherein drug organizations have affected the world our grandchildren will inherit. Now, we should embark on a strategy against drug prohibition and strengthen education which proved successful in reducing tobacco use in this country. The fact is 600,000 Americans die per year from alcohol and tobacco use compared with 10,000 from heroin and cocaine!
[...] In order to stop the "War on Drugs" from destroying our society, the
following realities should be considered:
We must -
* Realize legislating morality has been a destructive societal policy and that drug use and abuse are medical problems.
* Admit we are in denial about the true drug issues and problems.
* Be logical and refrain from hysteria which has been generated by politicians and hired advertising firms.
* Recognize the reasons the current drug policies have failed.
* Take the profit out of drugs by ending prohibition
* Admit "tougher" sentences have not proved successful
* Resist furthering political careers based on "public safety" rhetoric
* Admit mandatory rehabilitation programs for addicts have failed to produce effective results
* Recognize any new drug policy will have imperfections. Progress will require flexibility and the challenge of experimentation.
* Begin prosecuting more serious crimes rather than wasting tax dollars on drug offenders who are clogging the courts
[...]
Abortion seems to have had a better effect. The
crime rate itself fell.
On the up side, I read that the conditions in prisons improved because the normal people became a majority and real criminals got marginalized.
Are lifestyle laws the SS troops of social conservatism?
Now you can argue that not all fit the category and that would be true, but the numbers are such that mere subsidation would bankrupt the society. I have seen the results of casual drug addiction with the knowledge that it is illegal and the force of addiction is so strong that continued use is almost assured.
Easy access to drugs would create a new class of addicts. Those that said, "well, now that it is legal, I will try it and, of course, I can quit anytime I want."
WRONG
These fools would jump to the hard core in no time and we would have a new crop of junkies to support. And so it goes.
The results of easy access to drugs is overdoses. Overdoses result in bodies laying in the streets. Now, you may argue that we could set up government stands (for lack of a better term) for supply to ensure that no one would get OD'ed.
Sorry, but it wouldn't work. The user, with his ever increasing need for 'the high' would only go to other government stands for a, yet stronger, fix! And so it goes.
Are you ready to wake up to the vision of a junkie, lying dead on your lawn and your 6 year old staring at the site? That, my friends, is the result of easy access hits!
Easy access to drugs = Janis Joplin, Easy access to drugs = John Belushi, Easy access to drugs = Kurt Cobain. Easy access to drugs = Jim Morrison.
And so it goes!
People who've been adversely affected by someone who uses illicit drugs know it isn't hysteria. That's why the overwhelming majority of people are in favor of keeping them illegal.
Sustainable societies have always had laws that reflect the morality of their dominant culture. The idea that laws and morality should be mutually exclusive is a canard usually perpetrated by a destructive subculture.
It would sure put a crimp in organized crime.
He says that like it's a bad thing.
People are adversely affected by lots of things other people do.
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